musical culture from South Asia and the Diaspora

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Celebrations of a Milestone: Qawwali

The first instalment of South Asian music as part of the celebration of 100 posts on the Harmonium Music Blog (and 700+ at the Washerman’s Dog) is a collection of qawwali. This genre of spiritual music needs no further elucidation for followers of this blog; but for new comers who wonder what this weird sounding word means, click here.

I must thank the young qawwali connoisseur Musab Bin Noor of Pakistan for turning me on to so many fantastic qawwals from outside the mainstream of Western consciousness, a couple of which I have included in this collection.

Here you will find qawwali of many styles from both Pakistan and India by qawwals both famous (Aziz Mian and Wadali Brothers) as well as somewhat obscure (Raza Khan and Kurban Farid Shahi Qawwal). Some are in Punjabi but most in Urdu. Most performers are Muslims, a couple are Hindu and one is even a Pentecostal Christian!

It matters little what the outside looks like when it comes to qawwali, for this pure music of the human soul.